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Reappraising the Oscar winners and losers

Jamie Foxx stars as a freed slave seeking his wife and vengeance in “Django Unchained.”

If nothing else, Quentin Tarantino knows how to push buttons. How else to explain him creating DJANGO UNCHAINED (R, 3 stars), a companion piece to his audacious “Inglorious Basterds,” set in the era of slavery?

Should the motormouthed writer-director be tackling this sensitive subject manner in his typically flip fashion? Does watching Jamie Foxx shoot up a bunch of rednecks really help alleviate the dark stain of slavery in the hearts and minds of the oppressed? Is it troubling that the real star of the movie is a white man?

Those are all valid questions to have after watching “Django,” but it’s also hard to ignore that the film is a rollicking spaghetti-western-Antebellum mashup with electric performances from Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson. And while Waltz won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, you could easily argue that the latter two men could have easily snagged the trophy as well.

Curiously, even though Tarantino captured Best Screenplay, this is one of his weaker scripting efforts – still very good, but also rather straightforward.

The story revolves around slave Django (Foxx), who teams up with dentist-turned-bounty hunter King Schultz (Waltz) to accost three fugitives known as the Brittle Bros. When that mission succeeds, Schultz offers to help Django find his long-lost wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), which eventually leads the pair into the lair of notorious plantation owner Calvin Candie (DiCaprio).

The film is structured with three distinct parts – the first has the Western flair, as Django and Schultz form the strangest buddy-cop partnership in history as they work their way across the West, collecting bounties. The second shifts to the Candieland plantation, as the pair try to outwit Candie and his senior house slave Stephen (Jackson). Finally, and this is where the film begins to strain at the seams, is Django’s revenge after being shipped off to a mining company.

Bold and bloody, Tarantino continues his parallel-world history lesson, stringing together stirring set pieces, none of which may be more intense than a dinner party conversation in which the characters all are trying to deduce the motives of the others.

Does Tarantino use the “n-word” too much – of course, but in this context, I think it’s ridiculous to argue that its excessive or unnecessary. This is how people talked during this ugly time.

Foxx is a bit of a cipher as Django – it’s a tough role, without many of the showcase moments his co-stars receive, but he does fine with it. However, Waltz is amazing yet again and DiCaprio shows menace that we’ve never seen as Candie. My biggest problem with the film is that it’s just too damn long. But that’s to be expected from Tarantino, who seems like the kind of guy for whom editing is just a vague notion, both in his movies and his life.

***

On the surface, it appeared that LINCOLN (PG-13, 3 1/2 stars) would be a slam dunk when it came to awards season – the pedigree of director Stephen Spielberg, the acclaimed source material by Doris Kearns Goodwin, the screenplay by Tony Kushner and a host of acting powerhouses, including Daniel Day-Lewis augured Oscar gold from the start of the production.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Oscar glory. “Argo” became the dark horse candidate and rode a crest of momentum to steal Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay, while Spielberg lost to Ang Lee for Best Director. As it turned out, the film only won 2 gold statues after 12 nominations, a disappointment for those who follow those types of things.

After sitting down with “Lincoln,” however, it’s hard to understand how this wasn’t recognized as the best film of 2012. Handsomely mounted, surprisingly intense and flawlessly anchored by the unbelievable efforts of Day-Lewis, this is a movie for the ages.

Wisely focusing on the last four months of Lincoln’s life and his fight to pass the 13th Amendment amid a divided House and a nation wrecked by the Civil War, Spielberg has made a talky film that never drags, a searing historical portrait of one of the nation’s most beloved presidents and a drama that manages to touch on all sides of the issue while never veering from its steadfast belief.

Of course, it helps that Spielberg had Day-Lewis in his pocket. The notoriously method actor is unbelievable as Lincoln, in a performance that makes you wonder if this guy is real or some acting robot sent from the future to embarrass all others.

To be fair, “Lincoln” is littered with great actors at the tops of their games, including Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones (in an Oscar-nominated effort) as Thaddeus Stevens, David Strathairn, Bruce McGill, James Spader, Jackie Earle Haley and pretty much any other character actor of whom you can think.

It can be difficult to make a film where the audience knows what’s going to happen, but the mission to pass the Amendment is presented with the kind of intensity and drama that makes you lean to the edge of your seat. Is it a 100 percent accurate film? No, but this isn’t a documentary. And the liberties taken here are small enough as to not blunt the impact of the story.

History buff or not, “Lincoln” should be required viewing, as it presents an opportunity to see an actor, director and writer at the top of their game. Don’t be fooled – this was the cinematic cream of the crop last year.

***

The hunt for Osama bin Laden was ripe for a cinematic adaptation, but ZERO DARK THIRTY (R, 3 1/2 stars) elevates the material into an breathtaking, nerve-wracking quest that captures the urgency, danger and politics involved to a tee.

Anchored by a blistering performance from Jessica Chastain, it’s a shame that a trumped-up controversy regarding torture and leaked information took away from what’s on the screen. Just think of how difficult it is to synthesize and present this complex information in a compelling fashion – director Kathryn Bigelow does this and more.

The story revolves around CIA officer Maya (Chastain), a obsessively thorough agent with one goal in mind – gathering information to help bring down bin Laden. Starting in 2003, Maya uses any means necessary – be it technology, favors, coercion or subterfuge – to get whatever she can to pull this mission off.

It takes a while to get into the rhythm of the film and its military jargon, but once you settle in, it’s a hypnotizing experience. Chastain is joined by an able cast of veteran actors, including Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Mark Strong and James Gandolfini.

We all know war is hell, and this movie doesn’t try to paint it any other way. The intensity of the campaign, the emotional toll it takes on all parties involved – it’s all there and handled brilliantly.

Kudos to Bigelow and Chastain, who probably both deserved to win Oscars but wound up on the short end of the stick. But their work here will be long remembered.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.